


Somewhere I Have Never Travelled

by Malapropian



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Time Travel, fabulism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:06:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23624329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malapropian/pseuds/Malapropian
Summary: The day Kira’s parents brought her to The House of Exquisite Workmanship was the moment on which her entire life pivoted, when she fell headfirst into love with the art of Watchmaking.
Relationships: Bobby Finstock/Kira Yukimura
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34
Collections: Secret Steter BFFs





	Somewhere I Have Never Travelled

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mia6363](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mia6363/gifts).



> Wow, I haven't written het in an age, but once I got your name, I knew I had to write your super rare OTP or die trying. 
> 
> There were a few false starts, but I did it! I had a great time making the moodboard and this little story to go with it.
> 
> Just a few notes. The title is from [this poem](https://poets.org/poem/somewhere-i-have-never-travelledgladly-beyond). Arden Cho actually does have a watch company named Leonard & Church, and I made several references to Seiko. [Check out the wiki page here.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiko)

__

_June 1991_

The day Kira’s parents brought her to The House of Exquisite Workmanship was the moment on which her entire life pivoted, when she fell headfirst into love with the art of Watchmaking.

Dozens, maybe even a hundred, watches hung from the ceiling, each from their own glittering chains. The quartz faces twinkled merrily in the late afternoon sun, the centerpiece of a room decorated in .

She was entranced.

When Kira reached out to touch a low-hanging pocket watch, drawn to the lifelike engraving of blooming sakura, a shop attendant appeared by her side.

“Let me, young miss,” she said with an easy smile. She unwrapped the chain and allowed Kira to take it in her hands.

She studied the smooth silvery metal. It was warm from sun or whatever magic made them capable of travelling. On the back, there was another engraving, in kanji. Kira frowned at the four characters. She couldn’t read it.

The lady ran her finger over the characters. “ _Ichi-go ichi-e._ It means one time, one meeting: a reminder to value each meeting for they can never be repeated exactly.”

With nimble fingers, she found the mechanism to unlock it, and here it was. The moment when Kira lost her heart. All at once, she understood the innate beauty of a well-crafted time piece. In this child-sized pocket watch, she saw more than a method to take one from point A to B. Every detail only added to the perfection. From the pearlescent pink shell face to the tiny flower that marked the spot where twelve should be. Even the plain metal of the case and numerals seemed masterful, the delicacy of pink and sakura anchored by the humble strength of silver. 

Her parents carried on their adult conversation at the main counter, thanking Hattori-san for his swift work on their commission, but she barely heard them. Not until Hattori-san himself stood beside her and the attendant. 

“Do you like it, Kira?” he asked. 

She nodded emphatically, sending her black pigtails flying. “It’s beautiful!”

A smile spread under his white moustache. “It was the watch I made when my daughter first began her travels. She’s outgrown it.” He paused, shooting a look at her parents, standing behind her. “Would you like it?”

Her? Have a watch of her very own? One that could take her spinning through space and time on grand journeys like her parents and their friends?

Without thinking, she blurted out, “No!”

A sharp gasp left her mother. “Excuse our daughter, Shinji. She’s very young.”

Before he had a chance to accept her mother’s apology, Kira bowed. She had to fix her ill-timed outburst. She needed him to understand her true desire.

“I’m sorry, sir. It’s very beautiful, and I would treasure it. But….” she stopped and licked her lips. “I don’t want to travel. I want–I want to make watches, even more beautiful than this one. And I’d like you to teach me!”

He chuckled. “Is that so, Kira?”

“Please.”

“Hmm. What do you think, Akane?” he asked the woman who’d opened the watch for her. 

“I believe she has the passion, Father.” 

As he evaluated her, weighing her with a surprising warmth to his gaze, her stomach tangled in knots. Akane had spoken for her, and Hattori-san didn’t seem angry at her rudeness, so she held her breath and dared to hope.

“It will be hard work,” he said after an eternity of waiting. “Noshiko, Ken. If you permit it, bring her back tomorrow morning.”

Judgement delivered, Shinji Hattori strode back to his workshop, leaving a triumphant Kira behind him.

“Oh thank you! I’ll do my best, Hattori-san. I promise.”

Akane shook her head, still smiling in that easy way. “I have no doubt, but first you’ll need to convince your parents.”

Kira grinned back. He’d said yes to teaching her. Nothing her parents said could keep her from this.

She felt it in her bones: this was destiny.

* * *

_March 2018_

Kira bumped the back of her head into the counter when the shop bells rang out. “Shit, sorry! Just one second,” she called out.

“Take your time, Kira,” said the customer in a familiar voice. He sounded amused at her clumsiness, but he usually was, in a small, teasing way.

“Bobby!” she gasped and fell backwards, directly on her ass, her mind in a jumble. Bobby Finstock, her friend and owner of the adorable cat cafe, Melon Pan. For months, he’d been stopping by with bread and kittens and a grief-tinged interest about the unglamorous side of Watchmaking. Bobby who was now a pivotal part of her life.

She should have expected that he’d be back… after all he’d been waiting more than twenty years to see her again.

During his after hours visit yesterday, he’d been somber, slow to speak. When Kira had questioned him, he’d brushed it off with a smile and handed her a watch. One of her own Leonard & Church watches. A well-loved piece with her branding on the brushed silver dial and wrist wear on the cognac leather straps—but she’d never seen it before in her life. It was pretty and practical and absolutely her aesthetic, down to the inscription on the back: _only a moment_.

She had been scared to death to touch it, to unlock the secret to his sadness. Kira had denied that first offer at six years old. She’d only wanted to create the time pieces that allowed others to go on strange adventures. She wasn’t the one who actually _travelled_. That was for other people, like her parents or Stiles and Peter. 

Except this watch was proof she’d done it. Apparently, thirty-three year old Kira Yukimura had taken a jaunt through space and time and met Bobby Finstock in 1996. She had stayed with him long enough to fall in love and begin building a life together.

It was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

She bowed her head, hiding tear-filled eyes behind a curtain of dark hair. She’d left him. Her time had run out, and her dear, wonderful not-husband had still chosen to make it all happen. She could only imagine what a blow it had been to see her again for the first time, young and unchanged when they had so much history together. A history that she didn’t and couldn’t know. Until now. 

Blurry brown shoes walked toward her and crossed the barrier of the counter. A warm, familiar hand reached down for hers.

He was wearing his ring.

“Hey,” he said, gently rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. “It’s been a while, huh.”

“For you.” 

Despite the tears, Kira laughed at the absurdity of it all. “Didn’t you say it before I left? Only a moment until I’m happy again.”

His grip tightened, drawing her up to her feet where she could be held. She wrapped herself in his presence, the smell of coffee and Tide. The feel of his buttons rubbing her cheek. Even the cat hair that immediately tried to find a place in her mouth. It was exquisitely perfect in a way she hadn’t known to miss. Perfect in a way that eclipsed any time piece she’d ever seen, and what a wonder that was.

“Are you ready to come home? Meet the new cats?”

“New cats? But they— _ohh_.”

Of course. Gadget and Melon must be gone by now. Somehow, she hadn’t made the connection, but she had travelled more than twenty years. Stupid of her to think that nothing had changed.

“Hon?” he asked, concern clear in his voice. Bobby dropped his head closer to hers. “Are you… are you happy again?”

Kira tucked her face into his neck, kissed his pulse. “I’m so happy. The most.”

At her admission, he sagged against her. ” _God_ , I missed you. I went fucking nuts. Off the rails for years, but now it’s just.” He buried his face in her hair. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Bobby.” Her heart ached at the simple sincerity, he’d grown so much in her time away. Somehow he’d learned to be vulnerable, and it hurt that she hadn’t been part of it.

But how many things had he been divorced from, in her absence? Far too much.

Growing up without him, learning from the Hattori family, falling in and out of love. Starting Leonard & Church. She’d never known the lack of not having Bobby Finstock by her side. She’d been happy and ignorant her whole life. Now it was his turn to have happy moments. She’d missed so many years of the life they could have had, and she wouldn’t miss any more of them. 

She sniffled. “The next time I go on a trip, I’m taking you with me.”

From now on, it would be the two of them, creating their happiest moments together.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it, folks! Let me know what you thought. :)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this bit of fluff, Mia.


End file.
